Until their burial



(No ModeL) z'sneens-sheet 1.

v R. STRAUSS. SAFETY APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD UNTILTHEIR BURIAL.

Patented Apr. 14, 1885;

wum him wmin um 0.1;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

r R. STRAUSS. .R SAFETY APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD VUNTIL THEIR'BURIAL. No. 315,569.

Patented Apr. 14, 1 885.

I l I N PETERS. PhowLnl-o n mr. wad-1mm 0.0

, hood by insects, 85c.

- UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD STRAUSS, or SCHWEIDNITZ, PRIUSSIA, GERMANY...

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE DEAD UN TlLTHEIR BURIAL;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,569, dated April14, 1885. Application filed June 17, 1884. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, Brennan STRAUSS, a subject. of: the- King ofPrussia, residing at Schweidnitz, in the'Province of Silesia and Kingdomof Prussia, GermanEmpire, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in SafetyApparatus for the Preservation of the Dead UntilTheir Burial, of which the follow ing is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This safety apparatus for the preservation of the dead until theirburial is for the purpose of destroying all vapors injurious to healthemanating from the corpse, avoiding any danger of infection andpreventing (especially in the case of persons dying of epidemicdiseases) poisonous matter from being conveyed to persons in theimmediate neighbor- It is a well-known fact that in-rooms in whichcorpses are kept until their interment, the air, owing to the vapors andgases emanating from the corpse, be-

comes so dangerous and injurious to health that infectious diseases andeven deaths have frequently been attributed to it. In cases of death byextremely dangerous infectious diseases the corpse can certainly bepreserved in remote rooms,which nobody isallowed to enter, and which canbe well ventilated; but in most cases the relations of the deceased want.to see the latter during the short space of time between death andburial. If the inspection of the corpse in rooms frequented by manypersons is to be free from danger in all respects, then the coffin inwhich the deceased is preserved should have a perfectly air-tightclosingappliance, should admit of a convenient observation of the corpse, andshould, in case that it is only apparent death, have an appliance bymeans of which the bad air developed in the coffin can be destroyed anda fresh supply of air can be continually led into it, so that the personapparently dead may not be deprived of this most necessary of allbenefits for maintaining life; but as the construc tion of such a coffinis not only very expensive, but also attended with many difficulties,and not attainable, perhaps, in many cases,

my endeavors have been directed toward constructing an apparatus thatwould combine all the good qualities just mentioned in itself.

The apparatus accords in appearance. with the solemnity of a death-room,and is made in the shape of a catafalque in sizes suitable for allcoffins. A The following description and the accompanying drawings willserve to explain this safety apparatus in all its parts and its innerarrangement likewise.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a co corpse-cooler embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 represents a vertical transversesection 0n the line at a; ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a vertical longitudinal section on the line yy of 65,

Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a modification. Fig.6 represents in horizontalsection a lifesavingapparatus. (Shown more fully in vertical section inFig. 7.)

' In the box-shaped receptacle a, which consists of four side walls andone bottom, the

middle part, I), open at the top and bottom and provided with panels F,is inserted in such manner that the indiarnbber packing-ring 0,

attached to the inner face of the lower part,

a, of the case will form a hermetic joint with said middle part, b. Thelid d, with the upper piece, e, Figs. 1 and 2, is likewise fitted asairtight as possible onto the middle part, b, and

thus these three pieces form together a com- V pletecorpse-preservingdevice.

According to the height or size of the coffin or under part of thecoffin containing the freelying corpse, the middle part, b, with the lidd can be moved up and down or telescoped,

as by turning the shaft f to the right or left,

as required. The four cords g g g g, which are fastened with one end tothe above-men tioned shaft but with the other end to the mid dle part,b, passing over the guide-rollers h ]L2 h h, are wound upon the shaft fand thus raise its falling too fast the winch-handle need but be putonto the shaft and held fast.

m m are bearing-standards for the guideroller h. p The raising andlowering of the appliance for the reception of the coffin is effected inresented in vertical section as connected with the same manner.

The letter a designates hollow pillars in which the supporting-rods 0IUOVQ. To the latter are fastened the cords p, which run inguide-groovesformed in said pillars, and passing over the guide-rollersq are wound on or off the shaft r. The rods 0 on each side are connectedby the longitudinal bars 8, and above these again the sliding cross-barstare laid so that they may be shoved toward or from each other accordingto the length of a coffin.

The letter a designates the bearing-standards for the two winding-upshafts f and 0, while 1; designates a pawl and w a ratchet-wheel for thesecond shaft, r. The two lamps w are placed on the lid, and, as seen inFig. 7, are completely closed by the globe y, so that the air they needfor burning must be sucked up from the interior of the apparatus. Thefresh air penetrates uninterruptedly through the opening Z in the bottomof the apparatus, passes first through the two ice-chests A 13, goesthrough the openings 0 0 into the channel E, which runs round the lid dand escapes into the two lamps m, where it is immediately burned. Theselamps thus effect an uninterrupted ventilation; fresh air continuallypasses into the coffin, and the bad air is consumed. At the same timetheselamps contribute materially to give the whole apparatus a solemnappearance.

F F are glass plates set in air-tight, through which the deceased can beobserved continually. The lid (2 is likewise provided with a large glasspane, G.

In order to be able to read off the temperature in the apparatusconveniently from outside, a thermometer can be fixed. inside close tothe glass panes.

H H are fillings which,when extraordinary lightness of the apparatus isrequired on account of transport, can be made of oil-cloth, &c., as ingeneral the whole under part of the apparatus can be made of lightframes covered with the same material. Whenv complete,the apparatus maybe conveniently carried by two persons. As it can be taken to pieces, itcan be transported through the narrowest rooms.

If the whole apparatus has to be as cheap as possible, and yet theeffect remain thesame,

then, as Fig. 5 shows, the common coffin. is

placed on a simple wooden frame, I, covered with cloth, under which isthe ice-chest K. In this case only one coffin-lid, L, which is providedwith a glass pane, is, necessary, which can be made to fit all sizes ofcoffins byunder. The air enters the ice-chestat o,passesthrough it andthrough tube 1?, and penetrates at 6 into the coffin, out of which it-issucked up by the lamp and consumed. The

process is therefore just the same as that al- 1 ready described of theartistically and solemnly fitted up safety apparatus.

In Fig. 7 the already-mentioned lamp is repa so-called saving apparatusfor persons apparently dead.

The Whole lamp, and especially the oil-reservoir S, in which are anumber of air-holes going right through, rests on a hollow tin casing,T, in which is a tube, a, that goes through the lid of the coffin intothe latter. The tin casing T rests on a wooden box fastened firmly tothe coffin-lid, and the door of this box has the tendency to fly open tothe outside by means of spring :0, but is kept back by stud y,latchedinto tube U. In case, then, that the person apparently dead,whoseextremeties are connected by strings with the bolt Z, makes on awakeningthe slightest convulsions, the bolt Z slides back, the bar a fallsdownward and strikes on stud 1 whereby the latter is latched out of tubeUand the spring X forces the door W open. But besides this, in springingback,the stud y presses on the spring I) of an alarm, c, which causesthe latter to sound, and according to its inner construction, to keep onringing loud for several hours. In the upper part of the tin casing T aglass pane is set, through which a piece of suitably-prepared material,6, fastened to the bar a, can be observed. In case of decomposition ofthe corpse commencing, this material changes its color (becomes brown)at once, and this is therefore a sure sign of actual death. Thislast-described saving apparatus can likewise be employed in cases whenthe person apparently dead has been buried. The tin casing T,with thetube U and the falling bar a, need in this case only be lengthened somuch that the lamp It, with the alarm c and the prepared material 0,reaches above the grave-mound, and for protection against outerinfluence is covered with a strong wire fencing that can be locked.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination. with the stationary lower part, a, of acorpse-preserver, a part, b, vertically movable therein, and a shaft,cords, pulleys, pawl, and ratchet,whereby said part b may be raised forinspection, held in an elegvated position, and lowered at, will,substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with an air-tight corpse preserving apparatus,a lampsupported there- '3 by and provided with tubes which allow the foul airto be drawn up from said apparatus by the lamp and consumed thereby,substantially as set forth.

means of air-tight frames M N, that are laid l 3. A coffin-supportingframe, in combination with a shaft, cords, and pulleys, and rodsattached to said frame and vertically movable in tubular pillarsby therotation of said shaft, as set forth.

4:. The combination of a bolt arranged tobe attached to a supposedcorpse, with a bar, or, caused to drop by the withdrawal of said bolt,the door W, which flies open thereupon, the

IIO

stud or rod y,oarried by said door, and alarm and said coffinreceptaele,substantially as set mechanism tripped and caused to operate by forth.10 the withdrawal of said stud or rod, substan- In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature in tially as set forth. presence of two witnesses.

5 5. The combination of an air-tight coffinreceptacle with an ice-boxarranged in a lower -Witnesses: part of the apparatus, and a pipe, P,which ALEXANDER SPIELMANN, makes communication between said ice-box CARLFIEDLER.

RICHARD STRAUSS;

